About the minimal hassle install option for an ERV that is available out there.
I needed an ERV for a garage workshop, and searched exhaustively. I landed on
this TwinFresh ERV, and decided to go for it.
They (VENTS-US) said the install was trivial. Well, yeah compared to a four port ERV, but note you need some equipment
you might not have laying around:
- 6.5" bimetallic hole saw (get @amazon,I needed to go through stucco mesh)
- LONG drill bit to go through your entire wall, so as to locate the front panel mounting while centering the arbor drill of the hole saw all the way through the wall, especially if you have empty space between inner and outer walls. I need 6" bit to get through my 5.75" total wall thickness.
Install tips:
- the directions want you to maintain an 1/8" drop at minimum so as to drain any condensate. Not hard to implement as your 6.5" hole will create a slight larger hole, you can file some outer wall away to ensure this drop, and the interface to the inner panel and outer vent hood will tolerate this slight small angle from perfectly flush mount
- one design flaw is the vent outer tube has no way to fasten itself in the wall hole you create. Check out the manual, there is no hint.
And if you don't come up with something, when you push in the inner cartridge, you'll push the tube away. You'll need to figure something out.
- my wall was 5.75" thick, and the cartridge which needs to be fully enclosed by the outer tube is ~10". So basically I had to fab a wooden frame to space the inside panel away from the wall about 2.5", and then let the outer tube stick into outer vent hood about another 2". It worked out OK.
p.s. this wooden frame allowed me to drill screw holes into 3 sides, so I could screw in some pointy drywalls screws, which basically stick into the outer tube, thereby keeping it locked in place. Above problem solved!
Overall, it took four hours, but that's because I had to make this frame box, and it took me time to drill and measure and cut everything. You will need some way to cut/trim the outer vent tube. I used a cut-off tool from the inside diameter, guided by some painters tape on the outside.
I did get some initial questions answered by good tech support from VENTS-US website contact form.